schaefer c9

Chapter 9

Latinos:

The Largest Minority

Hispanic Population

• Nearly 32 million, or two-thirds of Hispanics in the United States:– Are Mexican Americans, or Chicanos

• The majority of Hispanic adults in the United States worry that:– They, a family member, or a close friend

could be deported

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Latino Identity

• Panethnicity– The development of solidarity between ethnic

subgroups

• Hispanic or Latino– Collective term is subject to debate– Latino more common in the West


Latino Identity

– Hispanic more common to the East and the term used by federal government

• Actions of the dominant group have an impact in defining cultural identity to some degree

• Among Hispanic youth age 16–25:– Only a minority, about 20 percent, prefers to

use panethnic names


Latino Identity

• About 72 percent of immigrant youth are likely to prefer country of origin – Compared to 32 percent of grandchildren

• The sharp White–Black divide is absent in their home countries– Where race, if socially constructed, tends to

be along a color gradient


Latino Identity

• Name issues/“language battles” distract group’s attention from working together

• Income and education does not appear to influence Hispanics’ perceptions

• Younger generation think more in panethnic terms


Latino Identity

• Color gradient– The placement of people on a continuum from

• Light to dark skin color rather than in distinct racial groupings by skin color


The Borderlands

• Borderlands– Refers to the area of a common culture along

the border between Mexico and US

• Notion of separate Mexican and US cultures obsolete because of– Legal and illegal immigration


The Borderlands

– Day laborers crossing the border to go to jobs in the US

– Implementation of (NAFTA) North American Free Trade Agreement

– Exchange of media across the border

• Maquiladoras


The Borderlands

• Multinational companies found even lower wages in China– 40%+ of the 700,000 new maquiladoras jobs

created in 1990s were eliminated by 2003

• Immigrant workers have significant economic impact on home countries– Remittances estimated at $24 billion annually


The Borderlands

• Hometown Clubs– Typically are non-profit organizations that

maintain close ties to immigrants’ hometowns: • In Mexico and other Latin nations

– Collect money for improvements in hospitals and schools


The Borderlands

– Some states in Mexico began matching-funds programs

– Inland from the borders, hometown clubs have sprung up in northern cities:

• With large settlements of Mexicans


The Economic Picture

• Median income increased over past 25 years

• Gap remains between Latinos and Whites

• Latino household earns 70 cents for every dollar earned by Whites

• Low wealth is characteristic of Hispanic households



– Likely to earn less annually and have fewer financial resources to fall back on

• Poverty rate reflects pattern in income

• Beginning of 2010– 25.3% of Latinos were below poverty level

compared to 9.4% of Whites



• Situation difficult to predict– As a group, poor Latinos are more mobile

geographically– Half send money abroad to help relatives

• Puts a strain on supporting themselves in the US


The Growing Political Presence

• Federal law requires bilingual or multilingual ballots in voting districts – Where 5% of voting-age population does not

speak English

• Voting turnout was poor– Many were ineligible – non-citizens



• 2010– 19% of Latinos voters have more confidence

in the Republican agenda on immigration– 51% leaned toward the Democratic position

• Factors that elicit support from politicians– Growing population; higher proportions of

voter registration; higher election participation



– Less commitment to a single political party

• Resent the fact that existence is rediscovered during election years– Little interest in between except by Latino

officials


Cuban Americans

• Cuban settlements in Florida date back to the early nineteenth century– Where small communities organized around

single family enterprises

• 1960 census – 79,000 Cuban born in US

• 2010 – more than 1.7 million of Cuban descent in the United States


Cuban Americans

• Increase followed Fidel Castro assumption of power after 1959 Cuban revolution

• Three significant influxes of immigrants through the 1980s– 1st - About 200,000 came during the first

three years after Castro came into power


Cuban Americans

– 2nd – Freedom Flights; 340,000 refugees between 1965 and 1973

– 3rd – 1980 Mariel boatlift is most controversial – “Freedom Flotilla”

• Castro used Carter’s invitation to send prison inmates, patients from mental hospitals, & addicts

• Marielitos


Cuban Americans

• Wet Foot, Dry Foot Policy– Refers to government policy which generally

allows Cuban nationals who manage to reach:• The US (“dry foot”) to remain while those picked up

at sea (“wet foot”) are sent back to Cuba


Cuban Americans

• Cuban refugees have advantage over other refugees in terms of public opinion

• Issue of communism still overshadows attitudes about US relationship with Cuba


The Current Picture: Cuban Americans

• The influence of Cuban Americans – Miami area– In Urban centers

• Generational relations among Cubans– Generational clash between cultures (parent

and child)



• Long-range perspective of Cubans in the US depends on several factors– Most important – events in Cuba

• Refugees proclaim desire to return if communist regime is overturned



– Cuban Americans have selectively accepted Anglo culture

• Split between original exiles and their children– Children more concerned with Miami Dolphins

than they are with Havana


Central and South Americans

• Central and South Americans came from – historically different experiences and times– culturally diverse backgrounds

• Unlike racial groupings in the United States they use a color gradient– Describing skin color along a continuum from

light to dark



– Another indicator of the social construction of race

• Little in common other than hemisphere of origin and Spanish language– Other languages are Portuguese, French, and

Dutch



• Other distinctions– Social class distinctions– Religious differences– Urban versus rural backgrounds– Differences in dialects among those speaking

same language



• Central and South Americans do not form a cohesive group

• Do not naturally form coalitions with– Cuban Americans– Mexican Americans– Puerto Ricans



• Immigration has been sporadic and influenced by– US immigration laws– Social forces in the home country

• War and persecution• Economic deprivation


Central and South Americans:The Current Picture

• Two issues clouding recent settlement– Many are illegal immigrants

• Citizens from El Salvador, Guatemala, & Colombia are outnumbered only by Mexican nationals

– Brain Drain• Immigration to US of skilled workers,

professionals, and technicians



• Experience high unemployment compared to Whites

• Better educated than most Hispanics

• By 2010 El Salvador, Guatemala, and Columbia were the top countries of origin – Each with at least a million present



– Success found in catering to other Colombians

– Many obliged to take menial jobs & combine income of several families

• To meet high cost of urban life

– Colombians of mixed African descent face racial as well as ethnic and language barriers



• Future of Central and South Americans in the US?– Could assimilate over generations– Alternative: being trapped with Mexican

Americans as a segment of dual labor market– Possibility is that they retain an independent

identity while establishing an economic base


schaefer c9

Documents

pearson education

latino identityabout

latino identityhispanic

percent of immigrant

dark skin color

common culture

united states

hispanic populationnearly